


Quiet Moments

by alenkoblr



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Angst, M/M, such sad, very feels, very much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 16:20:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1058961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alenkoblr/pseuds/alenkoblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the relationship between Anders and Karl in relation to Karl's ultimate fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Moments

It is the quiet moments Karl treasures the most.

Getting Anders to sit still is a feat in itself, but when Karl can lure him into stillness with pillows and the old tower cat, they can remain entangled and happy for hours. Anders snuggles into his side, limbs thrown every which way and hair loose down his shoulder, tangled and unkempt. Always, Karl keeps one arm around him and one eye on the door, alert even in these moments of rest. Anders laughs, teases him for his caution, but both understand the necessity far too well.

Sometimes the cat sits in Anders’ lap and purrs when he scratches behind its ears. The warm little body, the vibration deep in the furry chest, the prickly sensation when the cats kneads his legs with rough pads, these things bring Anders peace. Karl supposes that ancient cat makes Anders feel at home, maybe, or at least comforted. Cats do not care about mages and templars and everything in between.

"Cats are spiteful little creatures, aren’t they," Karl had remarked once after the cat had hissed and swiped at his hand when he tried to stroke its fur."They’re just picky about who touches them," Anders had replied, smiling down at the irate beast with a fondness Karl couldn’t quite understand. "Isn’t that right, you old fop?"

The subsequent purring had drawn a sigh from Karl’s lips and a hearty laugh from Anders. 

Karl misses that laugh. In his cell in the Kirkwall Circle, he clutches Anders’ letter to his chest and tried to remember the sound. His mind cannot do it justice, and he curses his frail memory. He closes his eyes, and he tries to remember at least the touch of Anders’ hand on his cheek, the warmth of his embrace, the softness of his smile…

The quiet moments are also the most fleeting, he had come to realize, and he has to content himself with the letters, burned shortly after their reading, the memory of the words a balm against the chill.

In the last moments before the Rite begins, it is with a bitter laugh that Karl realizes he can picture Anders’ smile with perfect clarity, even if the laugh has escaped him. He closes his eyes and drinks in the sight until the face no longer matters.

He knows Anders when he sees him, that night in the Chantry, knows him so well that his appearance is no surprise. “You are too rebellious, like I was,” he says, and Anders’ face twists with emotions that Karl no longer feels. That is, until Anders begins to glow and the Fade whispers once more in Karl’s mind.

It is a quiet moment, in a way, their final farewell. As feeling flees his heart and his mind fogs yet again, it is the sensation of the knife in his chest that is the last true feeling he has.

It is the quiet moments Anders now keeps in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> So um I wrote a thing for someone on Tumblr on anonymous and I suppose if you people know who the recipient of this fic is then my cover is blown but I absolutely had to post it because it made me cry writing it so there.  
> 


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